One year ago, on May 18th, 2013, I married my best friend and the love of my life. It was one of the most spectacular days of my life. Even the cloudy skies and rain couldn’t dampen a day we had been planning for years.

To reflect on this anniversary, Massachusetts-based photographer Joel Benjamin snapped photos of the pioneering gay and lesbian couples who married in the Bay State in 2004, including portraits all seven of the couples from the landmark case.

For me, Ralph and Paul’s marriage embodied powerfully what the significance of what transpired on May 17, 2004, when legal marriage for same-sex couples became real for the first time in American history.

On May 13, 2014 U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy Dale, a federal judge in Idaho, ruled in favor of the freedom to marry, and now couples across the state are celebrating! Meet just a few of the amazing couples celebrating this huge step forward for marriage in the Gem State.

This morning, after yesterday's landmark ruling in Wright v. Arkansas, where a circuit judge struck down an Arkansas law that prohibits same-sex couples from marrying in the state, same-sex couples began marrying in Eureka Springs, AR.

Today, couples in Raleigh, NC are taking a stand with the Campaign for Southern Equality, friends, family members, and clergy, through the WE DO campaign. Freedom to Marry caught up with eight of the couples participating - read their stories.

This week, singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles released the video for her new song "I Choose You," in which she helps two couples - a different-sex couple and a same-sex couple - plan the perfect proposal and wedding engagement.